LS Electra CE-1
The Electra is the fifth warship in Liberon service to bear this name. When she was built, she was (presumably) the most powerful heavy cruiser in the world. She was launched on January 8th, 2019, the 32nd birthday of the late Queen Benedict, and christened by her daughter, Princess Sarah Benedict. Electra was commissioned in March 19th, just in time for the Second CGNV War. Electra is a ship of many nicknames. She has been decorated heavily, only second to the Second World War Antheron. Construction The Electra was originally built as a battleship armed with 14 inch main guns and a top speed of 22 knots. It was to be powered by four diesel turbine engines to two propellor shafts. Somewhere halfway through the design phase, it was decided that Electra would become a nuclear cruiser. The battleship plan became the B4 type Fast Battleship, another very successful design. In a steel cutting ceremony, a piece of metal in the shape of the Electra's outline was presented to Queen Benedict. A second piece of metal became the Liberon crest set on the bow of the ship. In spring of 2017, the Electra's keel was laid down and work commenced to 2019. She was given the yard number "24b" as she was being sheathed in armor. On her launching date, Crown Princess Sarah Lilian Benedict with a bottle of Mercury. It took two times to smash the bottle against the prow of the ship. The ship sounded off her horns for the first time, which smashed windows up to five miles away. The problem was quickly fixed, but it earned the young ship her first nickname, the "Window Washer's Nightmare." Technology The Electra was built as the first Liberon cruiser to use nuclear cores as a power source. One core was her main, and a smaller one was installed as a backup. Electra was the second ship to use the Standard Type Shell, but the first one to use the Mark 1 chemical propellant. It allowed her to strike further with her shells. The cruiser was also the first capital ship to break 40 knots. Previous ships, such as the French Fantasque class and the Japanese Shimikaze were destroyers with ultra-powerful engines and amazing streamlining. Electra is the first Liberon vessel to mount DRADIS as it's main form of long range detection. She has an ASDIC set in the bulbous bow, but her anti-submarine warefare was never her intended role or forte. Finally, she maintained her funnel to be able to use a smokescreen, which has been in all subsequent nuclear cruisers of Liberon origin. Service History Mod.2020 In 2020, Electra embarked on her first combat mission. En route to Castle Harbor to join the LS Antheron CVF-4 Task Force, a fleet of CGNV battleships were detected by DRADIS. Electra singlehandedly sunk 2 battleships and damaged a third before retiring from the battle, earning her a second nickname, the "One Ship Fleet." She successfully pulled into castle harbor the next day. Mod.2021.1 On her first sortie, she and the Antheron CVF-4, along with several Danae class light anti-aircraft cruisers, attacked CGNV shipping lanes to great efficiency. It forced the CGNV to keep escorts of ships with their convoys, drawing away from their normal fleet power. Electra participated in the only major battle against the CGNV, the Battle of Mercular. Transported by DTJMD starships, the heavy cruiser provided valuable and powerful artillery support for the ground forces invading the planet. She later escorted the Combined Fleet when a major diplomatic party was set on the Queen Elizabeth 3 as Noelsnook threatened to bomb the ocean liner. In March, after sinking the USS Australia, she pulled into Port Crescent for her first refit. She was jokingly called "Space Battleship Electra" for being transported to Mercular and back. Mod.2021.8 Electra was given a minor refit at the end of 2022 in peacetime (after the First Monstonian War). Her main mast was moved aft to give better clearance to the Vertical Launching System behind the funnel, and her older turrets were replaced by newer, modernized ones. These turrets are the ones that have been in use with every Liberon heavy cruiser class at some point afterwards. Her bow was widened to allow the ASDIC set some room after a destroyer was lost to a submarine. In a twist of fate, she became faster because of the new bow. She had the large 40mm Bastion CIWS installed to supplement her flak cannons. After the refit, she managed to fight Noelsnook in Italy before the war ended. As another war cropped up, the Second Monstonia War, she and the battlecruiser Ranger sunk the battleship Alphasburke in the Battle of the Barents Sea after the Monstonian ship sunk the Antheron CVF-4. Mod.2022 Electra's final refit came in the end of the year 2022, where her older flak cannons were replaced by the tiny Mosquito type CIWS. Her 40mm Bastion CIWS remained. She had her dual torpedo tubes replaced by quadruple ones, and her rear deck was plated over. The midsection where her original aircraft handling equipment was rebuilt for more anti-aircraft and Surface to Air Missile clusters. Finally, the backup core was replaced by a Tylium Spool, allowing her to make jumps between planets. In this configuration, Electra as immortalized. As a permanent unit of the Pacific Fleet, she participated in patrols off of the coast of Ignis, the Fall of Stratos, and the Japanese Communist Revolution. Today, Electra is the flagship of the Liberon Pacific Fleet. Lasting Legacy The LS Electra CE-1 remains the single most influential cruiser design in the Liberon arsenal in the modern age. Many succeeding designs were heavily based off of the Electra. The most obvious is the A-class heavy cruisers. They began construction in 2020 and have 20 ships in the series. Their B and X turret have been replaced by hypersonic missiles, a configuration coincidentally repeated in the Noble class destroyer. The ships also have a different superstructure in a (failed) attempt to make the ship's concealment better. Following the A-class is the LS Vampire, CE-2. The ship had a relatively short service career, before being sunk in harbor when her ammunition load exploded. The Vampire sparked the V-Class heavy cruisers, which is the main heavy cruiser force of Liberon. The most numerous class of heavy cruiser ever built, the V-class is based on a lengthened Vampire hull. The third unit in the class is named Vampire II in honor of the ones lost in the original ship. Electra's bow, a curved, elegant shape, was the first time it was used on a Liberon ship. Previous ships had a straight bow with a flared top, which consistently failed to keep the deck dry. Subsequent ships, even in the Task Force 77.3 and Admiralty Code used this bow. CE-1's bridge windows are the same ones that were installed on the 1922 Electra. She also has one .50 caliber machine gun on her aft that was on the Electra in the Battle of Savo Island. Category:Ships of the line